Bill Text: NJ S553 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits certain sheriffs to enforce truck weight limits.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [S553 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S553-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator SANDRA B. CUNNINGHAM
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Permits certain sheriffs to enforce truck weight limits.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the enforcement of vehicle weight limits and amending P.L.1950, c.142.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 5 of P.L.1950, c.142 (C.39:3-84.3) is amended to read as follows:
5. a. Officers shall have authority as set forth in paragraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection to require the driver, operator, owner, lessee or bailee of any vehicle or combination of vehicles found on any public road, street, or highway or any public or quasi-public property in this State to facilitate and permit the measurement or weighing of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, for the purpose of determining whether the size or weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, is in excess of that permitted in this Title :
(1) Officers of the Division
of State Police shall have the exclusive authority to conduct random roadside
examinations for the purpose of determining whether size or weight is in excess
of that permitted in this Title, and officers of the Division of State Police
shall have the authority, with or without probable cause to believe that the
size or weight is in excess of that permitted, to require the driver, operator,
owner, lessee or bailee, to stop, drive or otherwise move to a location for
measurement or weighing and submit the vehicle or combination of vehicles,
including load or contents, to measurement or weighing. In the event that a
county purchases for the use of its sheriff's officers the same or equivalent
equipment as that used by the officers of the Division of State Police to
conduct random roadside examinations pursuant to this paragraph, and ensures
that the sheriff's officers have access to the commercial vehicle inspection
database used by the State Police, then the sheriff's officers of that county
who are properly trained and certified to use the equipment and to conduct
random roadside inspections may also conduct random roadside examinations and
perform the other duties enumerated in this paragraph. The authority granted
to county sheriff's officers pursuant to this paragraph shall extend to all
vehicles or combination of vehicles except those with intermodal equipment or
those which do not exceed a 26,000 pound gross vehicle weight rating. For
purposes of this paragraph, "intermodal equipment" means intermodal
freight containers and the chassis or trailers designed to carry intermodal
freight containers. A vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not be
stopped for a random roadside inspection by a State Police officer or a county
sheriff's officer pursuant to this paragraph if it
has been stopped for a random roadside inspection anywhere in the United States
within the previous 24 hours;
(2) Police or peace officers or inspectors appointed by any municipality or county, or sheriff's officers in a county where the sheriff conducts road patrols, shall have the authority to require the driver, operator, owner, lessee or bailee to stop, drive or otherwise move to a location for measurement or weighing or to remain on the roadway or move to a temporary location and submit the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, to measurement or weighing, only if the officer has probable cause to believe that the size or weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, is in excess of that permitted by this Title, except as otherwise provided for sheriff's officers in paragraph (1) of this subsection. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as depriving any such officer of authority to determine by means of measuring or weighing devices or scales approved and certified by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures or his agent that the vehicle or combination of vehicles is in violation of this Title and to issue a summons pursuant to law; and
(3) [The] Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Division of State Police and the director shall have the exclusive authority to establish and operate locations for the measurement and weighing of vehicles, including load and contents, and all measuring and weighing devices or scales employed at such locations shall be approved and certified by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures or the State Superintendent's agent. Copies of documents displaying the State Superintendent's seal or certification shall be prima facie evidence of the reliability and accuracy of the measuring or weighing devices or scales utilized.
b. Whenever the officer, upon measuring or weighing a vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, determines that the size or weight is in excess of the limits permitted in this Title, the officer or inspector shall require the driver, operator, owner, lessee or bailee to stop the vehicle or combination of vehicles in a suitable place and remain in that place until a portion of the load or contents of the vehicle or combination of vehicles is removed by the driver, operator, owner, lessee, bailee or duly appointed agent thereof, as may be necessary to conform or reduce the size or weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, to those limits as permitted under this act, or permitted by the certificate of registration for the vehicle or combination of vehicles, whichever may be lower. All materials so unloaded or removed shall be cared for by the driver, owner, operator, lessee or bailee of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, or duly appointed agent thereof, at the risk, responsibility and liability of the driver, owner, operator, lessee, bailee or duly appointed agent thereof.
c. No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be deemed to be in violation of the weight limitation provision of this act, when, upon examination by the officer, the dispatch papers for the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, show it is proceeding from its last preceding freight pickup point within the State of New Jersey by a reasonably expeditious route to the nearest available scales or to the first available scales in the general direction towards which the vehicle or combination of vehicles has been dispatched, or is returning from such scales after weighing-in to the last preceding pickup point.
d. When the officer determines that a vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, is in violation of the weight limitations of this Title as provided at paragraph (1) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84; paragraph (2) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84; paragraph (3) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84; or paragraph (5) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 relative to maximum gross axle weights, but is within the permissible maximum gross vehicle weight of this Title as provided at paragraph (4) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 or paragraph (5) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84, whichever is applicable, the driver, operator, owner, lessee, bailee or duly appointed agent thereof shall be permitted, before proceeding, to redistribute the weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles or the load or contents of the vehicle or combination of vehicles so that no axle or combination of consecutive axles are in excess of the limits set by this act, in which event there is no violation.
e. When the officer determines that a vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, is in violation of the height, width or length limits of this Title as provided at subsection a. of R.S.39:3-84, the driver, operator, owner, lessee or bailee of the vehicle or combination of vehicles or duly appointed agent thereof shall be permitted, before proceeding, to adjust, reduce or conform the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, so that the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, are not in excess of the height, width, or length limits set by this act, in which event there is no violation.
f. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, found or operated on any highway in this State which is part of or designated as part of the National Interstate System, as provided at 23 U.S.C. s. 103(e). No arrest shall be made or summons issued for a violation of the weight limitations provided in this act at subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 where the excess weight is no more than 5% of the weight permitted, provided the gross weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, does not exceed the maximum gross weight of 80,000 pounds as set forth at paragraph (4) of subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84.
g. Any person who presents to the officer, or has in his possession, or who prepares false dispatch papers, that is to say, dispatch papers which do not correspond to the cargo carried, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $300.
h. Any driver of a vehicle or combination of vehicles who fails or refuses to stop and submit the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, to measurement or weighing, as provided in this Title, or otherwise fails to comply with the provisions of this section, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $200.00.
i. The owner, lessee, bailee or any one of the aforesaid of any vehicle or combination of vehicles found or operated on any public road, street or highway or on any public or quasi-public property in this State in violation of the height, width or length limits as set forth in subsection a. of R.S.39:3-84 shall be fined not less than $150.00 nor more than $500.00.
j. The owner, lessee, bailee or any one of the aforesaid of any vehicle or combination of vehicles found or operated on any public road, street or highway or on any public or quasi-public property in this State, with a gross weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, in excess of the weight limitations as provided at subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 or section 3 of P.L.1950, c.142 (C.39:3-84.1) shall be fined an amount equal to $0.02 per pound for each pound of the total excess weight; provided the total excess weight is 10,000 pounds or less, or shall be fined an amount equal to $0.03 per pound for each pound of the total excess weight; provided the total excess weight is more than 10,000 pounds, but in no event shall the fine be less than $50.00. However, in the case of any vehicle or combination of vehicles carrying a sealed ocean container, either the shipper, the consignee or both, shall be liable for a violation of the weight limitations as provided at subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 relative to maximum gross axle weights.
k. Whenever a vehicle or combination of vehicles, including load or contents, is found to be in violation of any two or more of the weight limitations as provided at subsection b. of R.S.39:3-84 or section 3 of P.L.1950, c.142 (C.39:3-84.1), the fine levied shall be only for the violation involving the greater or greatest excess weight.
l. The driver, owner, lessee, bailee or any one of the foregoing of any combination of vehicles found or operated on any public road, street or highway or on any public or quasi-public property in the State in violation of the regulations of the Commissioner of Transportation regarding designated routes for such combinations as provided in subsection e. of R.S.39:3-84 shall be fined not more than $400 for the first offense, and shall be subject to a fine of $700 for the second offense and a fine of $1,000 for each subsequent offense. The officer may direct that a combination of vehicles so found or operated proceed by the most direct route to a permitted route or return to a permitted route by making use of the route already traversed.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.348, s.3)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill adds sheriffs who conduct road patrols in a county to the officers who are authorized to enforce the weight and size restrictions imposed on vehicles and combinations of vehicles under the State motor vehicle code.
This bill clarifies that police or peace officers or inspectors appointed by any municipality or county or sheriff's officers in a county where the sheriff conducts road patrols have the authority to require a driver of a vehicle to stop on the roadway or move to a temporary location for purposes of measuring or weighing the vehicle when the officer has probable cause to believe that the vehicle is in excess of permitted size and weight restrictions. The measuring and weighing must be done by devices or scales approved and certified by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures. Further, under this bill, such officers have authority to issue a summons pursuant to law if the vehicle is in violation of such restrictions. Such officers continue to have authority to require vehicle drivers, when there is probable cause, to move to a location established by the Division of State Police for measuring and weighing vehicles.
The bill provides that if a county purchases for the use of its sheriff's officers the same or equivalent equipment as that used by the State Police to conduct random roadside examinations and ensures that the sheriff's officers have access to the commercial vehicle inspection database used by the State Police, then the sheriff's officers of that county who are properly trained and certified to use the equipment and to conduct random roadside inspections may also conduct random roadside examinations and weigh the vehicle.
The bill also provides that a commercial motor vehicle shall not be stopped for a random roadside inspection by a New Jersey State Police officer or a county's sheriff's officer if it has been stopped for a random roadside inspection anywhere in the United States within the previous 24 hours.
This bill is intended to reduce the number of overweight and oversized trucks on the State's highways by increasing the number of officers with the authority to enforce vehicle size and weight restrictions.
